Acie Law gets nod from Atlanta

There are still some mock drafts that say the Clippers are taking Acie Law at 14, and other mocks that say he is going higher. Well, Acie Law has just cancelled a workout against other aspiring PG's and the speculation is that he has received a guarantee that if he is available at 11, they will draft him. On our Clippers poll, Acie is the #1 vote getter, but now we have to turn our sites to Javaris, or Nick Young or maybe even Splitter if a buyout can be worked out. One thing we all need to consider is balancing between who is best able to help now, who is the best athlete, along with who has the most potential. It seems we need help at PG now, but rookies seldom come in and become all stars their first season. So do we go in another direction and go with a guy who has a lot of pro experience like Splitter or Fernandez, or a guy with a lot of potenial like Nick Young. So I say that it is Fernandez. Rudy has pro experience even though it is in Europe, he can shoot, and he can actually play PG as well. So, he can play PG, he is ready to help now, and he is a great athlete, and is young so he still has potential. Tough call.

jlemmen43

06/22/2007 - 12:17 PM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1403

Location: Green Bay, WI

votes: 10

The fact is...as you eluded to, rookies rarely come in and make an impact, especially at PG. If you let one start right off the bat, you risk quite a lot, but if it works out, you scored big time. If we get Crittendon, we fill that PG spot, and hope that he is starter material. If we get Nick Young, we get a good shooter that we desperately need, but we'll probably still have to start Mobley. Both have their pros and cons. Rudy would be an excellent pick, but only if he can start playing this season and we can afford to buy him out. Either way I think we'll be re-signing Jason Hart (or a guy like Maurice Williams) and putting Guillermo Diaz on the roster. If Diaz is here and we draft Young or Fernandez, Ewing becomes very expendable.

jlemmen43

06/22/2007 - 04:39 PM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 1403

Location: Green Bay, WI

votes: 10

Here's my updated response on what I would like to see happen for the Clippers. This year draft Nick Young with the 14th pick. Re-sign Jason Hart for at least 2 years. Sign Guillermo Diaz. Draft a PF/C in second round. Extend the contracts of Quinton Ross and James Singleton. Be willing to trade up and get Darren Collison in next year's draft. Then extend Elton Brand and depending on what Maggette does this year, look at either extending him or trading him for something good. Let Sam Cassell retire on a good year (hopefully). Wait to see if Livi comes back successfully from injury. Evaluate Jason Hart's performance and if Livingston is worth keeping. Look into trading Daniel Ewing, Paul Davis or Tim Thomas.

The team could be set for a few years if this is done and things work out. As far as winning right away...it's unlikely a draft choice will change that automatically...and I think we have the talent to compete with the top teams. Selecting Collison in 2008 will solidify our PG problems. getting Nick Young this year will give us extra shooting which will cover up our weakness at PG until we can get Collison here and Hart more experienced.

Just my ideas. Please respond and let me know what you think.

david

06/22/2007 - 05:26 PM PST

Site Admin

Posts: 9280

votes: 43

I like that plan JLemm. Nick Young could be a nice backup/starter at the SG position, + he brings athleticism to the table. The one doubt I have about Nick is whether if he's too much of a one-on-one player. Like JamFan I still think Rudy Fernandez has more intangibles, but I wouldn't complain if the Clippers went with Nick Young.

As for Guillermo- it'd be great if he has a great summer and turns out to be a solid player for us. I have my doubts for now but we'll see.

Yeah we definitely need to extend Brand- I hope maybe somehow he'd take less than the max so it'd give us more payroll flexibility. Maggette we really need to extend too- Donald Sterling doesn't want him traded, so we have to re-sign him or else we pretty much be left with nothing for him.

I agree they should re-sign Hart if he's not asking for too much. Give him maybe a 2 year, $4 mil deal but probably not much more than that.

JamFan

06/23/2007 - 02:42 AM PST

Clipper All-Star

Posts: 2375

votes: 22

Wouldn't be funny after all the speculation about what PG we would draft at 14, or what FA PG we could sign, or maybe who we trade for to play PG, if Guillermo Diaz comes into camp and blow everybody away. Remember that 47" lateral verticle leap that he did in a Phoenix Suns workout. Then he went to Czech and shot 58% from the 3, yeah thats right, from the 3. Where is the player anywhere in the world who has shot a percentage like that from the 3. He just might surprize the hell out of us.

david

06/24/2007 - 01:18 PM PST

Site Admin

Posts: 9280

votes: 43

According to DraftExpress apparently Acie Law doesn't have a promise and they're speculating that he canceled the workout with New Orleans because he much rather be playing with the Clippers (because of the PG situation).